Jene Bramel
Footballguy
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Highlights:
Darius Eubanks will start next to D'Qwell Jackson, with both Craig Robertson and Tank Carder out. The Jaguars have been a better matchup in recent weeks, but Eubanks is a desperation flyer only with the bye weeks behind us. I think T.J. Ward has better upside.
I was surprised to see Brandon Spikes practicing fully after he struggled to finish last week. The linebacker group is a question this week, after the Patriots benched Dont'a Hightower against Denver and used Dane Fletcher in nearly every package. Jamie Collins was also more involved. The Texans are a different matchup and don't have nearly as much speed outside the tackles. I expect we'll see a committee approach until Hightower or Fletcher declare themselves the better player. Spikes is a risky LB3 today, but I'd avoid the rest of this group. Steve Gregory could be back today, so those who have spot-started Duron Harmon will want to watch the inactive list closely.
The Colts rotated Pat Angerer and Kelvin Sheppard last week. Though they split snaps evenly, there wasn't a clear platoon. There also was nothing of note in local writer reports about the situation and neither player is on the injury list this week. It's hard to trust Angerer this week with his home stat crew, the up and down Tennessee matchup and the possible rotation.
Vontaze Burfict injured an ankle during practice on Friday and is questionable. Beat writers had no new information after Saturday's walkthrough and there was no indication that Burfict missed the team flight to San Diego. I think he's probably 80-20 to play, but make sure you've got a hedge in case pregame warmups don't go well for him. It's not been confirmed, but the locker room talk from Vincent Rey early this week strongly suggested that Rey Maualuga would return to the base defense at middle linebacker today. I expect we'll see Rey in subpackages and he'll get the call outside if Burfict cannot play. But be wary of all the Cincinnati linebackers today until the inactive list is released.
I thought last week's matchup would be better for Jon Beason, but the volume didn't improve his stat line. There's just too much good competition outside the tackle box for tackles right now and Beason doesn't have the foot speed to get his share. With Corey Webster still out, Antrel Rolle and Terrell Thomas should again both be strong plays. Jason Pierre-Paul will sit with a shoulder injury this week and don't be surprised if his absence stretches into a multi-week situation.
Highlights:
Darius Eubanks will start next to D'Qwell Jackson, with both Craig Robertson and Tank Carder out. The Jaguars have been a better matchup in recent weeks, but Eubanks is a desperation flyer only with the bye weeks behind us. I think T.J. Ward has better upside.
I was surprised to see Brandon Spikes practicing fully after he struggled to finish last week. The linebacker group is a question this week, after the Patriots benched Dont'a Hightower against Denver and used Dane Fletcher in nearly every package. Jamie Collins was also more involved. The Texans are a different matchup and don't have nearly as much speed outside the tackles. I expect we'll see a committee approach until Hightower or Fletcher declare themselves the better player. Spikes is a risky LB3 today, but I'd avoid the rest of this group. Steve Gregory could be back today, so those who have spot-started Duron Harmon will want to watch the inactive list closely.
The Colts rotated Pat Angerer and Kelvin Sheppard last week. Though they split snaps evenly, there wasn't a clear platoon. There also was nothing of note in local writer reports about the situation and neither player is on the injury list this week. It's hard to trust Angerer this week with his home stat crew, the up and down Tennessee matchup and the possible rotation.
Vontaze Burfict injured an ankle during practice on Friday and is questionable. Beat writers had no new information after Saturday's walkthrough and there was no indication that Burfict missed the team flight to San Diego. I think he's probably 80-20 to play, but make sure you've got a hedge in case pregame warmups don't go well for him. It's not been confirmed, but the locker room talk from Vincent Rey early this week strongly suggested that Rey Maualuga would return to the base defense at middle linebacker today. I expect we'll see Rey in subpackages and he'll get the call outside if Burfict cannot play. But be wary of all the Cincinnati linebackers today until the inactive list is released.
I thought last week's matchup would be better for Jon Beason, but the volume didn't improve his stat line. There's just too much good competition outside the tackle box for tackles right now and Beason doesn't have the foot speed to get his share. With Corey Webster still out, Antrel Rolle and Terrell Thomas should again both be strong plays. Jason Pierre-Paul will sit with a shoulder injury this week and don't be surprised if his absence stretches into a multi-week situation.
